Protesters entered a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C., Tuesday evening to heckle Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen. She appeared to sit quietly with her head down for more than 10 minutes listening to the protesters chanting "Shame!" and "End family separation!"

Protesters, roughly 10 to 15 of them, entered MXDC Cocina Mexicana about 8 p.m. while Nielsen finished her meal with one other person. The restaurant's general manager, Thomas Genovese, told The Washington Post that Nielsen had been dining for about an hour when the heckling began. She did not come with a reservation, he said. The eatery is about two blocks east of the White House.

"Secretary Nielsen!" a male protester yelled as the group approached Nielsen's table, according to live video footage posted on Facebook by Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America. "How dare you spend your evening here eating dinner as you're complicit in the separation and deportation of over 10,000 children separated from their parents? How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you're deporting and imprisoning tens of thousands of people who come here seeking asylum in the United States? We call on you to end family separation and abolish ICE!"

The secretary did not look up and did not appear to acknowledge the protesters as they began their chants of shame. At one point, she made a phone call.

Trump tweeted "Homeland Security @SecNielsendid a fabulous job yesterday at the press conference explaining security at the border and for our country, while at the same time recommending changes to obsolete & nasty laws, which force family separation. We want 'heart' and security in America!"

In a statement after the dinner, Department of Homeland Security Press Secretary Tyler Houlton described the protesters as people who "share her concern" about the current immigration system.

"While having a work dinner tonight," he said, "the Secretary and her staff heard from a small group of protesters who share her concern with our current immigration laws that have created a crisis on our southern border. The Secretary encourages all - including this group - who want to see an immigration system that works, that contributes to our economy, that protects our security, and that reflects our values to reach out to Members of Congress and seek their support to close the terrible immigration loopholes that have made our system a mess. The Secretary has been working with Members of Congress for months in search of a solution and she will continue to do so this week."

On Tuesday night, Nielsen's security detail stood calmly in front of her table, and the U.S. Secret Service told The Post in a statement that no arrests were made. Witnesses standing at the bar said that the protesters remained nonviolent and were not aggressive. Brent Epperson, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta visiting Washington for work, said that random customers in the restaurant, including him, even started clapping along with the protesters at their tables.

"A lot of people were very happy to see her shamed," Epperson told The Post, but Nielsen and her dining companion "looked a little disturbed." Spokespeople for DHS did not identify Nielsen's companion when asked by The Post.

"They tried to pretend like nothing was happening, but it lasted long enough that they couldn't," Epperson said. "They were just sitting there like statues, waiting for the protest to end."

Nielsen has become "the public face" of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" strategy that has separated more than 2,000 immigrant children from families over six weeks, even while erroneously insisting that it was not the result of a new policy, as The Post's David Nakamura and Nick Miroff reported.

Neither Nielsen's security nor management at the restaurant attempted to intervene or stop the protesters. Genovese said Nielsen simply paid the check after listening to the chanting for 10 or 15 minutes, then was escorted out by Secret Service agents.

The protesters left immediately afterward.

"It was like mission accomplished, and then they just headed out," Genovese said.